After the music had ended and the tents were packed away, police reflected on the behaviour of 37, 000 revellers at the 2018 Splendour in the Grass festival.
It was “disappointing”, detective superintendent Wayne Starling said, that despite a “high-visibility police operation” officers “continue to detect the possession and supply of prohibited drugs”.
It’s a common line after music festivals in New South Wales. Police talk about their haul – in this case 115 people issued with field court attendance notices for 148 drug offences – and chastise festival-goers for failing to heed their warnings.
Now, though, attention is turning the other way. This week and inquiry established by the NSW police watchdog heard that much of the “high visibility” policing at Splendour may have been illegal.
On Monday the Law Enforcement and Conduct Commission (LECC) opened its investigation into the allegedly illegal search of a 16 year-old-girl at the festival.
The inquiry heard that the girl was left fearful and in tears after she was forced to strip naked in front of police without a parent, guardian or support person present, potentially a breach of police powers.
During the inquiry, a senior constable admitted that all 19 strip searches he performed at the festival may have been illegal.
The revelations come at a sensitive time for the NSW government and its police force.
Earlier this month a coronial inquest heard evidence that in some cases a heavy police presence at music festivals may have contributed to drug related death, including in the case of 19-year-old Alex Ross-King, who died after she took an unusually high amount of MDMA because she was afraid of being caught with the drugs by police.
The rules around what justifies a strip search in NSW have long been criticized y legal groups. In August, Redfern Legal Centre release a report with the University of NSW which warned imprecise legal thresholds defining when an officer is able to conduct a strip search meant unlawful use of the practice is “potentially widespread.”
This week, the centre’s police power’s solicitor, Sam Lee, wrote to the LECC reiterating these concerns, saying the personal search manual released by NSW police in September “fails to provide police with clear rigorous guidance regarding the legal thresholds” when conducting personal and strip searches.
Read the full article here (The Guardian, 26 October 2019)
